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Friday, April 29, 2016

DD: We reported earlier
in the week on the opening statements in the federal trial of two of the men on
trial in Ft Worth, Texas accused of Interstate Stalking with intent to kill and
conspiracy to commit murder of a Mexican cartel lawyer who was slain in a
murder-for-hire plot in Southlake, a suburb of Ft. Worth.

The trial has proceeded
pretty much as expected but with some surprises in the testimony Murders and violence have been going on
across Mexico and also some in the U.S. for decades that involve family members
of 2 cartel leaders that are not drug or cartel related but a result of a family
feud.

FORT WORTH — The men on
trial in the hunting down of a Mexican drug cartel lawyer as part of a
murder-for-hire plot left behind valuable clues in a Southlake shopping center,
investigators testified on Wednesday.

A magnetic GPS tracker
stuck to the frame underneath Guerrero Chapa’s Range Rover helped Ledezma
Cepeda and his son locate and follow the victim to Southlake Town Square, where
he was gunned down by a two-man cartel hit squad.

That same tracker also
led federal agents to Cepeda Cortes, who prosecutors say set up an account for
that device and five other trackers using a fake name but a real email address.

Jeff Lloyd, a DEA analyst,
testified that the devices were purchased from a spy shop in McAllen.

Cepeda Cortes lived in
nearby Edinburg.

The FBI and DEA use the
same Blackline GPS trackers to follow suspects accused of crimes as part of
their routine investigations, Lloyd said. Agents identified
Ledezema Cepeda in part through email he exchanged with his cousin,
investigators said during the trial. They said they then matched a palm print
left on Guerrero Chapa’s Range Rover to Ledezma Cepeda’s prints taken after his
arrest.

Guerrero Chapa was Gulf
cartel kingpin Osiel Cárdenas Guillen’s personal emissary and attorney, and he
was also involved in drug trafficking, according to sources. He also was a U.S.
informant who provided agents with key information about the Gulf cartel and
its former paramilitary arm, Los Zetas, sources say.

The
shadowy and sinister Beltran Leyva cartel leader known as “El Gato” waited
years to get permission to take out the Southlake lawyer he wanted dead, and he
spent about $1 million of his money on the effort.

So
when he learned that Juan Jesus Guerrero Chapa was gunned down in May 2013,
Gato threw a big party in Mexico with as much beer as he could get his hands
on, according to testimony from the government’s star witness Thursday during a
murder trial.

At the
party was Gato’s top surveillance man, Jesus Gerardo Ledezma-Cepeda, who had
spent about two years tracking (DD searching for then following) Guerrero Chapa
using public records and high-tech spy gadgets, authorities say. Ledezma-Cepeda
also tracked at least nine other men for Gato who later vanished or were found
murdered, prosecutors said.

Thursday’s
star witness was Ledezma-Cepeda’s son, Jesus Gerardo Ledezma-Campano Jr., 32 (Above left).
Ledezma-Cepeda and his cousin, Jose Luis Cepeda-Cortes, 59, are being tried on
charges of interstate stalking and conspiracy to commit murder for hire in
connection with the Guerrero Chapa slaying.

After
the party, Gato, whose real name is Rodolfo Villarreal Hernandez, had
Ledezma-Cepeda try to find some of Guerrero Chapa’s family members in the U.S.,
according to authorities.

When
he was arrested in September 2014 with GPS trackers in his car while trying to
enter the U.S., Ledezma-Cepeda was still working for Gato, his son said.

Gato
hired Ledezma-Cepeda to find Guerrero Chapa because he held the lawyer
responsible for his father’s murder about a decade earlier.

Ledezma-Campano,
who helped his father track the victim, has pleaded guilty to a lesser charge
and agreed to testify in exchange for protection for his wife and young
children. They are believed to be living in the U.S. with visas that were arranged
by the U.S. government.

Cepeda-Cortes,
who lived in South Texas, is accused of providing logistical support to the father-and-son
surveillance team.

Ledezma-Cepeda
wiped tears from his eyes after his son, wearing an orange jumpsuit, was led
into the courtroom Thursday by U.S. marshals.

Ledezma-Campano
also became emotional when he first spoke about his father, who he last saw
when they were arrested in September 2014 while trying to enter the U.S. from
Mexico.

When Assistant U.S.
Attorney Joshua T. Burgess asked him why he was testifying, Ledezma-Campano
said, “It’s the right thing to do.”

The shooter who killed
Guerrero Chapa at Southlake Town Square and the getaway driver are considered
fugitives.

‘Close friends’

A clearer picture of
Gato and his alleged relationship with Ledezma-Cepeda emerged during the son’s
testimony.

The cartel leader, a
former Mexican federal police officer, had an explosive temper and would not
hesitate to torture or murder those who crossed him, Ledezma-Campano said.

Gato had asked the
Beltran Leyva family for permission to kill Guerrero Chapa when Gato’s father
was killed about a decade ago, but his request was denied, the son said.

But when Guerrero Chapa
and his client, a Gulf cartel kingpin, cut a deal with the U.S. government, the
Beltran Leyva cartel entered into a pact with the Gulf cartel, according to the
son.

The Gulf cartel, which
felt betrayed by Guerrero Chapa, did not object to the murder plot. And Gato
was given the go-ahead from his bosses to kill him, according to the son.

Ledezma-Campano also
testified that his father and Gato were “really close friends.”

During a hunting trip
in Mexico after the murder, Gato and Ledezma-Cepeda slept in the same area,
rode together in the same vehicle and shared some of the best hunting spots on
the ranch, according to the son. And Gato gave the father a BMW truck as a
gift, he said.

Ledezma-Campano said
his father also was friendly with Arturo Beltran Leyva and his brother, Hector,
who ran the cartel. Gato was Arturo’s right-hand man, he said.

Ledezma-Campano also
said during testimony that Gato tried to have him killed when he tried to pull
out of the plot. By that time, he had been to Florida with his father to
perform surveillance on Guerrero Chapa’s brother. Later, while in Mexico, he
was headed home from work on his motorcycle when some of Gato’s men shot at
him, he said.

The men drove over him
several times, leaving him with multiple injuries that required
hospitalization, he said. After recuperating, he returned to working for his
father to find Guerrero Chapa, he said.

Ledezma-Cepeda’s
attorneys say their client was coerced into working for Gato out of fear for
his safety and the safety of his family.

Working for the cartel

The son also described
how he became involved with Gato.

He said that around
2010, he and his father both worked for the police in San Pedro, an affluent
neighborhood in Monterrey that was left largely alone in the cartel battles. In
addition to the city’s business elite, some gangsters also lived there.

The billionaire mayor,
Mauricio Fernandez, wanted people to think he kept the peace by enlisting a
secret force of hundreds called “El Grupo Rudo,” or the Rough Group. The idea
was that some bad guys were needed to keep the bad guys in check.

**( DD Borderland Beat
has several stories about Mayor Fernandez that can be read by putting his name
in the search box on the lower right of this page. One of them from the NYT is here)

But in fact, Grupo Rudo
had only four primary members including Ledezma-Cepeda, the mayor and the San
Pedro police chief.

Fernandez had actually
formed a pact with the Beltran Leyva cartel to keep the peace in his town by
allowing them free rein, the father previously told agents. Grupo Rudo had
contacts within the Beltran Leyva cartel whom they bought information from,
according to the father.

Ledezma-Campano said
his father was friends with a Beltran Leyva plaza boss, or regional leader,
named Alberto “Chico Malo” Mendoza. The son said Mendoza was like an uncle to
him.

When Mendoza was
arrested by the Mexican marines in 2010, the cartel wanted to find the rat.
Only three people knew where he had lived: the mayor, Ledezma-Cepeda and the
police chief.

Gato questioned
Ledezma-Cepeda and was satisfied that he wasn’t the snitch. He told him to find
out who was, the son said.

The father enlisted his
son, Ledezma-Campano, who was tech savvy and knew how to program electronic
trackers. The son said his first job for Gato was to put a tracking device on
the police chief’s truck. The chief was eventually killed.

The sister of a Mexican
cartel lawyer who was slain in a murder-for-hire plot in Southlake took revenge
against the rival cartel leader she believed was responsible by having his
relative beheaded, according to witness testimony Friday.

That claim came during
the federal trial here of two men accused of stalking Juan Jesus Guerrero Chapa
prior to his May 2013 murder at Southlake Town Square.

The father and son are
accused of hunting down Guerrero Chapa over several months using high-tech surveillance
equipment with help from their cousin. The assassin and getaway driver remain
fugitives.

Ledezma Campano, 32,
has pleaded guilty to one of the two charges against him. He said the victim’s
sister hired someone to kill a female relative of Rodolfo Villarreal Hernandez,
a Beltran Leyva cartel leader known as “El Gato,” to avenge her brother’s killing.

Gato had ordered the
murder of Guerrero Chapa because he held the Gulf cartel lawyer responsible for
his father’s murder in Mexico years earlier, Ledezma Campano said.

Juan Jesus Guerrero
Chapa

Ledezma Campano
testified that the victim’s sister sent Gato a video of the severed head of his
relative. The exact nature of the relationship between Gato and the slain
relative was not disclosed.

After that, Gato had
Ledezma Cepeda try to find Guerrero Chapa’s relatives living in the U.S.,
according to the son.

Guerrero Chapa’s
sister, Dariela Chapa, is listed as a possible defense witness in the case. Her
whereabouts were not disclosed Friday.

Killings continue

Ledezma Campano
testified that the families of Gato and Guerrero Chapa have been feuding since
both men were children.

And killings related to
the decades-long hostility appear to continue.

As recently as Feb. 23,
Guerrero Chapa’s brother-in-law was found shot to death in Monterrey, Mexico.

Contact information for
the dead man, Moises Tijerina De La Garza, was found in Ledezma Cepeda’s
emails, court records show.

Gato, a former federal
agent in Mexico, claimed to have protection from the president of Mexico,
according to Ledezma Campano. That claim could not be confirmed Friday with
Mexican officials.

He said Gato and his
brother would cross into the U.S. using the Trusted Traveler lanes made
available by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The special lanes provide
expedited travel for “pre-approved, low-risk travelers,” according to the federal
agency.

Gato is considered a
fugitive. The U.S. government has not released any information about him or offered
a reward for his capture.

Ledezma Campano said
Gato is a violent, short-tempered man who uses murder and torture — as well as
an agreement with police — to remain in power. The son said Gato interrogated
people in a tire shop with a bloody chain saw hanging on the wall.

The son said Gato’s
former partner in the federal police, a man known as “Pelon,” also was involved
in the conspiracy and traveled to North Texas with the defendants while they
searched for Guerrero Chapa.

‘Clorox’
and the ‘Captain’

Ledezma Campano also
gave more information about the man who is alleged to have shot Guerrero Chapa.
He said the man earned the nickname “Clorox” because he always uses that brand
of bleach to clean up after the work he did for Gato, the son said.

The getaway driver is
known as “Captain” because he was a captain in the Mexican police, he said.

Both men also served as
Gato’s bodyguards in Mexico, he said.

Cepeda Cortes’
attorney, Robert Rogers, suggested to Ledezma Campano during cross-examination
Friday that he implicated his client in January in return for a deal with the
government.

Rogers said Ledezma
Campano previously told federal agents that his cousin did not know about a
murder plot.

Ledezma Campano had
faced life in prison. But because of his plea deal, he could receive 25 years
to life. His sentence could further be reduced because he has agreed to help
the government with unrelated criminal investigations.

Ledezma Campano said he
has about 20 relatives in Monterrey, Mexico — including his wife — who have to
keep moving to stay safe. He said they fear reprisals from Gato, Guerrero
Chapa’s family and the Mexican government.

DD is this "El Gato", he is speaking of the same one arrested in 2012 for kidnapping? That one was with the Gulf cartel and Los Zetas. He was a football player. Just wondering with the statements saying he may have government protection. So he could have been released. Also these guys bounce around and splinter so much, it is hard to keep track. lol

@9:28 I don't think it is the same guy. The reason I say that is that I have read dozens of stories on him looking for info and/or photo. I think it was in an "Economist" story that said he had never been arrested. I also can't find a photo that i can verify is him Talk about low profile and good protection.

One of the defense attorneys in the trial asked the son who is testifying against his father and uncle on cross examination if el Gato enjoyed protection provided by the President and he replied that he heard El Gato make that statement. He couldn't remember if it was when Caulderon was in office or EPN.

11:48 "el gato" is a futbol soccer player in prison in monerrey, the other "el gato" was a police officer in monterrey, from guanajuato, became BLO operator, that is the one these guys are talking about...la barbie was a cheerleader like W, who also became a gangster after cheering for the american football teams in high school...

Ok all you cheer leaders for the bad guys . Call him a snitch and all you want to call him . If in his position all you sociopaths will do the same thing . Oh hell you might even implicate your own mother for good measure.Ethical people don't find themselves connected with this crap .

Just remember the organization comes before your own blood once you get ritualed in.hes a snitch.shouldve took it like a man no code no honor for his papi.i would much rather put myself in el gatos shoes than be in this punks place.difference is gato killed for his dad this guy might get his dad killed.pinche panochon

8:36 Monterrey NL. All beltranuses, golfas and setas with arellanuses, equal not the sugar substitute but the new enhanced PRI cartel...select elite international murderers, all connected to el PRI AND PVEM, remember El H was found hiding in guanajuato protected by his partners PVEM PARTY politicians and transa expert businessmen, funny how many mexican politicians invest all over the US, from rodrigo medina, former NL governor, the moreiros and, voilá javier duarte de ochoa...--I'd say these guys are PRI/government assassins for hire...--any news on the murder of former federal boss Guillermo Gonzalez Calderoni? He put his ass on the line for the DEA and the mexican government involvement in shit with the CIA, in the open, but there seems to be NO interest in his case, maybe he did not have as much cash and property that anybody wants to go after, or a "daddy murdered by rival mañosos"

I'm sure the father understands why his son has the turned on him but it must be wrenching for the son to trade his father off in order to spare his wife/children from likely revenge. Interesting read from the get go. Thanks BB

El Sol Perdido-12:46 wasn't my comment.Your were right.To set the record straight AGAIN-Canadiana is a different handle than Canadian girl.Yes I replied to her.Different people.You guys think there is only 1 Canadian on here out of 35 million?Canadian girl has been on here longer than me.Me:2 years and I blog a lot but I do like the way she thinks!And no Chivis DD is right you can never be replaced.You know too damn much and hey we do get our share of Romeos on here don't we.There's 1 guy on here that always calls me canna.I think that's a neat handle and that way I know it's him.

Canna, wives #1 and #2 and #3 can not be replaced, it is a pity that there are so many good for nothing "men"--Chiva, you can not be replaced, just helped💋 💋 💋 Atentamente: the dreamboat the moon of el sol dreams about...

Hahahahaha, Sol, once AGAIN you have been proven wrong! "Canadian girl" and "Canadiana" are two different people. The handles are similar but different. Plus, both Canadian girl and Canadiana confirmed they are two different people a while back. Canadian girl has been posting on BB much longer than Canadiana. Anyways, more BESITOS for Canadian girl muuaahh...

@5:10. I did check the Google photo section when I was doing the story and just now again after I read your comment. There are probably hundreds of different people that show up on that search. Basketball players, musicins, public officials, a bunch of women etc.

On the ones that looked like a "maybe", I checked the page source for the photo and the story that accompanied the photo and none of them fit what little we do know about el Gato.

I think i have been to that "spy shop" that was owned by a former McAllen police officer. Nice guy. Ironically its less than a 3o second drive to where they killed the high up guy in daylight in from of attorneys office. They did a story about him in GQ? Forgot his name. Former head of Mexican Drug police. Never caught those 2 either. They let the bodyguard live.

It dont matter cato is new school.....la escuela vieja always prevails.....just a matter of time before the house is cleaned up ...especially now with a election right around the corner.....limpia llo bien

Well, el Bronco Rodriguez needs a few good men, he may give el Gato a new chance to be straight law, and maybe even governor, after all he has been accused of being a pony instead of bronco and epn's boy who has now forgotten the crimes of former governor Rodrigo Medina...